Yes. I recall quite a few MUDs in the 90s that had auto-claim on pickup. It's close to the same thing, though some of those same MUDs had a 'gift' or 'declaim' ability, which defeated the point of the binding. The level based MUDs would then sometimes tie equipment level restrictions in, where you wouldn't be able to give it to someone else who didn't meet the level requirement. It was a stopgap solution at best.

Yes. I recall quite a few MUDs in the 90s that had auto-claim on pickup. It's close to the same thing, though some of those same MUDs had a 'gift' or 'declaim' ability, which defeated the point of the binding.

I implemented 'claim' in GodWars back in 1995, and I'm not aware of any earlier MUDs which offered the same feature, although obviously it propagated to the various GodWars derivatives. The point of the feature wasn't to permanently bind gear to the owner, it was simply to prevent your best gear being looted.

By claiming an object (which costs 500 exp), that object becomes yourpersonal property. Using the 'locate' command you can find what itemscurrently belong to you and where they are in the mud. If you are notcarrying the item, you can get it back by calling it with the 'call'command. You can change the ownership of your own items by use of the'gift' command.

There were also pay-for-perks MUDs which locked "donation" gear to the user, I believe that would have been as early as 1994-1995. However that didn't apply to regular gear that you picked up.

If there were other MUDs that locked gear when you picked it up, they may have been discussed on MUD-DEV.

Our relics on End of Time, once put on a character, never drop, can't be stolen, auctioned, sold, given away etc., although the player can simply choose to "drop" them and they dissolve.

We also have a "stuck" flag that does exactly the same thing that can be flagged on any object. Combine nogive/nodrop and the nouncurse flag on the item, and it is effectively a permanent item the player can't get rid of without immortal intervention.

I don't know if either of those are what you have in mind, though.

We also have "key items" that are normally quest components, such as "a letter from Nileni Ronso" that is given to you and once you present it to the proper mob, he takes the letter and the quest starts… or "a map of the Tomb of the Unknown King" and when anywhere in this dungeon you either look or "use" the item (I can't recall which way I implemented that particular item) and it presents a visual map of the dungeon with your location. The player can look or attempt to use these items, but they can't be interacted with in any other type of way. Some progs might trigger automatically based on having the key item, but a lot of them are setup to trigger if the player attempts to use the key item. There is also a completely separate inventory list for this, and it doesn't count toward item count or weight. Some of the items are also like "tools" that might have various uses throughout the game, kind of like the items/tools in the Zelda games. But, these are effectively binded to the character, unless they are specifically intended to remove at any point. But again, I don't think this is specifically what you were thinking of.

The NO_DROP flag was a way to (mainly) implement the classic D&D cursed objects. You pick up the shiny broadsword and discover it's a -4 broadsword of fumbling. You can't drop it!

Bind-on-pickup is different. You are free to drop such things, or sell them, or junk them, or put them in your bank… but other players can't use them, and in some cases can't even pick them up. It's essentially a NO_GET/NO_USE flag which exempts the object's owner.

It's funcionally exactly the same, actually. You pick it up and can't drop it. Used in conjunction with the nogive flag… there you go.

The curse flag is, oddly enough, the thing used to emulate a cursed object. It means you can't remove an object once worn… you can drop it just fine as long as you don't actually wear it. Go figure.

Arguing nonexistent semantics is just silly. There are differences between MMOs and muds, specifically with how objects work. I'd expect an intelligent person to base their point of view with the adjustments in mind.

It's funcionally exactly the same, actually. You pick it up and can't drop it. Used in conjunction with the nogive flag… there you go.

It usually helps if you actually READ what people post before you try to refute them.

The OP was asking about "bind on pickup", and clearly was talking about the way it was implemented in MMO's which is 100% NOT THE SAME as what you're describing. A bound item is NOT stuck to your character. It CAN be dropped. It CAN be put in your bank. It simply cannot be USED by anyone else. Whether it can be traded or picked up by anyone else varies from one game to the next (usually not).

I still say my auto-claim example is the closest thing to BOP that pre-dated EQ. I'm also not sure what KaVir was trying to say - it didn't invalidate my statement. Auto-claim is slightly different from the default claim, and also differs contextually depending upon whether there is an in-game option to undo a claim.

I'm also not sure what KaVir was trying to say - it didn't invalidate my statement.

Elaboration. I narrowed it down from the 90s (the same decade as EverQuest) to a specific year, named the MUD in which the claim feature originated, clarified that the 'gift' command was part of the original design, and explained why it didn't defeat the point of the feature.

I'm also not sure what KaVir was trying to say - it didn't invalidate my statement.

Elaboration. I narrowed it down from the 90s (the same decade as EverQuest) to a specific year, named the MUD in which the claim feature originated, clarified that the 'gift' command was part of the original design, and explained why it didn't defeat the point of the feature.

That's fine, but I was never commenting on 'gift' defeating the point of 'claim' as you designed it. I was commenting on 'gift' (or anything of a similar nature) defeating the point of 'auto-claim' (or claim on pick-up, if you will) as a stand-in for BOP in pre-EQ days (barely, late 90s).

So auto-claim was a feature of Godwars derivatives? That would push the date to after 1997, possibly after 1999.

It was in Godwars derived or inspired games in the late 90s, yes. I recall playing a few games that had it. I started my game in 2001, originally from a God Wars derived codebase, and it had the auto-claim feature already. I also know that the source of my game hadn't been modified in a couple years prior to when I started development on it.